OPINION
Darren Bent implied that West Ham attacker Andy Carroll should leave the club this summer and he was spot on to do so.
The 35-year-old forward, who is currently without a club, was asked about the 29-year-old’s future at the London Stadium after The Sun reported that the Hammers were considering offering him a new deal.
Bent shared that based on the players West Ham had to call upon and their style of play, that the club may not be the best fit for Carroll, but claimed the 30-year-old could do a good job for someone else on a pay-as-you-play deal.
“Does he suit the way they play? Cause they’re not really a side to whip crosses in obviously they’ve had to play without their playmakers Silva, Anderson Silva, Lanzini when fit, Antonio gets down the line, Arnautovic, they’ve got some real good technical players so for West Ham it might not be the best fit,” said Bent on talkSPORT (Friday May 17th, 16:39).
“But if someone can get him on a pay as you play then he can get 25 games out of him in a season, he’ll get you goals.”
While Bent messed up naming West Ham’s team as he seems to think Felipe Anderson is called Silva, as he doesn’t seem to be referring to Hammers youngster Xande Silva, the rest of his point makes complete sense.
When Carroll, who earns £90,000-a-week currently (Source: Spotrac), was fit enough to feature for Manuel Pellegrini’s team this season, his teammates hardly played to his strength.
The 30-year-old may have missed a few golden chances that came his way more often than not he was isolated and the ball wasn’t played to him the way he liked it.
Carroll’s struggles were reflected in the fact he scored no goals in his 12 league outings this season and it’s hard to image Pellegrini directing his team to start playing the attacker’s strengths if he sticks around.
Also given that Pellegrini only trusted Carroll to play 90 minutes on one occasion in the league even when he was available to pick, it’s clear he’d benefit moving on.
The forward hardly featured this season and only managed 16 league appearances in his 2017/18 campaign; and his minutes being limited isn’t going to help him get back up to speed and get back to the player who used to terrorise Premier League defenders.
So while Carroll may be potentially open to staying put at the Hammers beyond his current contract that expires in matter of weeks, he should heed Bent’s advice and pack his bags.